Impulse distributor



June 2,1942. c. J. FITCH 2,285,254

IMPULSE DISTRIBUTOR Filed Dec. 28, 1940 ATTORNEY Patented June 2, 1942 Y NI ED STATE PATENT OFFICE IMPULSE DISTRIBUTOR Clyde J. Fitch. Endwell, N. Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y.. a corporation of New York Application December 28, 1940, Serial No. 372,110

I 2 Claims.

ihroughj resilient connecting means tends continuously to advance an, escapement wheel which is aire'cuy' connected to suitable circuit controlling means. order to eifect release of the esoapjementwheel atthe desired times, a control magnet and jassociated armature are provided, ihe"latter liaving stop means cooperating with the said heel forlfreleasing it intermittently uponsuccessive rgizations of the said magnet. An: object" l'thepijesentfinvention resides in the provisionof. an improved impulse distributor wherein a predetermined torque is applied conan escapementelement. the release uneerjdirect control of a vibratory f thefpresent invention resides iii" an improved impulse dis- I otorfdriving means continuously tending't an escapement wheel, and electromagnetic"control means for releasing the ,said wheel, upon successive energizations thereof.

Another object of the present invention resides tributorj having in the provision of an improved impulse distributor having motor driving means continuously tending to advance an escapement wheel through the agency of a resilient coupling, and magnet control means for releasing the said wheel upon successive energizations thereof.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the improved impulse distributor.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the said distributor, showing in section the resilient coupling of the driving and driven shafts.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the escapement wheel.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the armature assembly.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the cam segments secured to the distributor shaft. I

Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the cooperation suitable motor driving means Ill, such as a low torque induction motor which is wound for stall duty purposes, mounted on a supporting member II, and having suitable coupling means for efiecting rotation of the distributor shaft II, the latter being journaled in the spaced supporting frames ii.

A plurality of circuit controlling means, such as the spaced conducting cam segments II, are secured to the distributor shaft, which cam segments are effective to engage the related conducting brushes Is, at predetermined times, during the rotation of shaft l2. In Fig. 5, one of the conducting cam segments are shown in detail. The said brushes are suitably supported by an insulating member l6, which in turn is secured to the supporting member H. It is understood, of course, that the said conducting cam segments and related brushes merely are one illustration of circuit controlling means. In place of the said brushes, spaced contact spring arms may be substituted, which can be operated, to close or open the related contacts, by individual related cams secured to the distributor shaft, at difierent times during the rotation of the said shaft. This latter type of circuit controlling means is well known in the telegraphy art.

An escapement wheel l1 (shown in detail in Fig. 3) having. for example, four equally spaced stop fingers I8 is also secured to the distributor shaft l2. Cooperating with the escapement wheel are a pair of offset stops I! and 20 which are formed as an integral part of the armature 2| of magnet 22. The said armature assembly,

-' upon energization and deenergization of the of the escapement member with the escapement magnet 20, is arranged to be partially rotated about the point indicated by reference character 23 as its pivot.

With reference now to Fig. 2, it is seen, that, in the normal position of the armature assembly, the stop I! is positioned in the path of one of the stop fingers ll of the escapement wheel; and, upon energization of magnet 22 to partially rotate the assembly in a counterclockwise direction, the stop I9 is displaced out of the path of the stop fingers of the escapement wheel, thereby permitting the latter to be released, and rotated a predetermined angular distance. However, upon displacement of the armature assembly,

the. stop 20 is positioned in the path of the stop fingers of the escapement wheel, thereby preventing further advancement ofv the said wheel. The armature assembly is restored to the normal position shown by means of spring 24, upon deenergization of magnet 22, thereby displacing the stop 20 out of the path of the stop fingers, and permitting the wheel to be advanced until one of the stop fingers again engages the stop IS.

The configurations of the stop fingers of the escapement wheel and the stops of the armature assembly are such, that upon displacement of the latter, either to the left or right, as viewed in Fig. 2, the escapement wheel is released to effect rotation of the distributor shaft one eighth of a revolution, for each displacement of the stops. Thus, it is understood, that the distributor shaft is advanced, in equal predetermined steps, upon successive energizations and deenergizations of the magnet 22. The described armature assembly is referred to as a vibratory escapement member.

In practice, it is preferred to control the successive energizations of the magnet 20 by means of a suitable oscillatory means, such as an electronic oscillation generator of the type fully described in the copending application Serial No. 370,675, filed Dec. 18, 1940. Also, it is preferred to energize continuously the winding 25 of the motor driving means, in order to tend to rotate continuously the motor or driving shaft 26.

A sleeve member 21 is secured to the driving shaft and elongated sufliciently to extend over the free end of the distributor shaft l2. Resilient coupling means is provided in the form of a coil spring 28, which is disposed on the sleeve 21, and

one end of which is connected to the sleeve, and

the other end of which is connected to the escapement wheel I1.

Now, with the escapement wheel held in a fixed position by the armature assembly as shown, the motor armature and shaft are rotated to wind the spring 28 until the tension of the latter is equal to the torque applied thereto, thereby stalling the motor driving means.

From the description given, it is evident, that, upon successive energizations and deenergizations of the control magnet to position or vibrate the armature assembly from right to left, and vice versa, as viewed in Fig. 2, the escapement wheel and distributor shaft are released to permit them to be rotated, step by step, through equal anguiar distances. As the distributor shaft is permitted to rotate, the motor armature and shaft continue their follow up operations, thus, always maintaining the spring in a wound condition. In this manner, there is no time lag in applying the starting torque to the distributor shaft upon operation of the armature assembly.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention therefore to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An impulse distributor of the character described, comprising, in combination, motor driving means having a driving shaft tending to rotate continuously, normally inoperative distributor shaft and circuit controlling means, said shafts disposed in a co-axial relation with each other. an escapement wheel fixed to one end of said distributor shaft, an elongated sleeve member secured to said driving shaft having one end thereof disposed in close proximity to the escapement wheel, coil spring means surrounding said sleeve member, one terminal of which being connected to the other end of said sleeve member and the other terminal to the escapement wheel, thereby normally tending to rotate the latter, an electromagnet, and a pivoted escapement armature assembly cooperating with said wheel for normally preventing rotation of the latter, but effective to release the said wheel for rotation upon encrgization of the electromagnet.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1 characterized by the fact that the said escapement wheel is provided with a plurality of equally spaced stop members for permitting rotation of the distributor shaft, step by step, through equal angular displacements upon successive energization and deenergization of said electromagnet.

CLYDE J. FITCH. 

